Barclays bank says annual net profit tumbles 38% to £1.53 bn

15:41, February 18, 2021

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  HKSAR gov't official expects 12.9-bln-USD infrastructure investment annually

  Photo: XinhuaThe Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government will invest over 100 billion Hong Kong dollars (12.9 billion U.S. dollars) annually in infrastructure projects during the next several years, financial secretary Paul Chan said Sunday.The government will continue to push forward a series of projects concerning peoples livelihood, including affordable housing, land reclamation, reconstructions of hospitals and railway networks, Chan said in an online article.Chan believes that such projects will improve the urban environment and make Hong Kong more livable.After a year of the economic recession, the budget is under pressure but the government will not slow down its work to push society forward in a bid to break development bottlenecks and improve peoples living conditions, Chan said.In the article, Chan also reviewed the government work in the past year.Hong Kong encouraged the construction sector to adopt more digital technologies and allocated 200 million Hong Kong dollars to train workers, Chan said.

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  Chinese, US musicians celebrate Lunar New Year with annual concert

  Photo taken on Feb. 8, 2021 shows artists rehearsing for "The Sound of Spring", an online concert for the Chinese New Year, at Bard College Conservatory of Music in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York, the United States.-China Music Institute of the Bard College Conservatory of Music on Feb.

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  'Stay-put' Spring Festival fuels package boom in China

  China's courier companies have witnessed a package boom during the Spring Festival as millions have stayed put for the annual holiday.